After Everything
by Tey Johnson
Summary: What happens when Ben starts to realise that his feeling's towards Tory have changed. This is after the events of the first book. Written from Ben's point of view. Rated T as a precaution.
1. Chapter 1

Ben POV

I closed my Laptop with a sigh, thinking about what the rest of the Gang could be up to on a Friday night. I knew that Hi, Hiram Stolowitski, was off at his synagogue, his mother's request. Hi dodged the services so often that once in awhile Mrs. Stolowitski had to put her foot down, even if it meant dragging him by his ears. I sent a quick text to see if Shelton was busy. We were lucky if we got any service on our island but the test was sent through and I got an almost instant reply.

**Sorry man, working on a new theory for P-XPB.**

**That's cool. **I texted back. It's a good thing that he couldn't see my disappointment.

Why Shelton was still trying to understand why we had part wolf DNA was beyond me. I thought it was fantastic but Shelton was obsessed. Obsessed at finding out why exactly we became the way we are and why the version of Canine Parvovirus, Parvovirus XPB-19 (a type of the disease that is infectious to humans), seems to affect our DNA the way it does. That only left me with one other option; Tory.

Tory was the new girl. She had only been here for about half a year and I was still finding it weird having an actual girl living here. I mean an actually girl around our age. She had moved here when her mother had died. It must have come as a shock to her to find out that she had an actual dad. Let alone the fact that he was living on Morris Island, one of the most remote place's in all of South Carolina.

Tory had been quite a surprise. In the few short months that she had been here, she had turned us four boys all around. She really had all of us in a twist, me especially. I don't know what it is but she is just so incredibly different from all other girls at our snotty high school. She was just like one of the boys; only not. Now we had to watch what we said around her and pretend to know exactly what she is talking about, and then, when her emotions hit, they hit hard. None of us know what to do when she starts the tear factor on us.

I decide to leave my house and take a look around to see if I can find her. I head off to the bunker. It's a bit of a trek to find it; especially as the old one was destroyed we had to find an even further bunker. That took a lot of effort. They are so cleverly camouflaged that, the fact that we found the first bunker, was an incredible coincidence. After half an hour's walk I finally arrived at my destination; the infamous bunker. It was hidden by a cluster of ferns. The opening was small and found to the left of the cluster. It's a wonder how adults even fit inside it when it was used in the war. As I crept through the opening I was greeted by a wet slobbery kiss. I recoiled in shock to find Cooper, our little wolf dog pup. He had really started to grow over the last month, especially after he had joined our pack. Tory had made sure that he was feed, everyday. Tory had a small tendency to fall for his puppy eye's trick – after all, he is part dog – and over feed him. I made it my job, when it was my week to be on Cooper duty, to give him a little less than usual to balance out his diet.

'Hey Coop.' I said, ruffling the hairs on his head affectionately.

I heard a small, sweet chuckle come from further inside the bunker. It was Tory, and she seems to have seen the welcome I was just given.

'Hey Ben.' She said, getting up from the small couch situated in the left hand corner.

I, of course, responded only with a small wave. I don't know what it is, but I seem to be no good with words, of any kind. And my lack of verbosity only seemed to worsen when Tory arrived. Speaking became that much harder when there was a girl around. But I had recently started to get over that and decided to start acting like a civilized human being.

'So, why are you in the bunker all by yourself?' I asked simply, confused as to what she is doing here in the first place.

'I'm not alone,' she said, matching my tone of voice, 'I have Cooper for company.' She said with a smile.

When we flash we can communicate with each other telepathically. Cooper, another member of our pack, could also do the same. Though his thoughts are not the most intelligent, he is learning the art of the English language. I have a hunch that Tory has been teaching him.

'And I was just telling him how awful my day has been,' she continued. I gave her a skeptical look. Why would a Friday be terrible? It marked the beginning of our freedom days away from that god dammed awful hell hole of a school we go to.

'And why exactly was your day so horrible?' I ask, an odd sense of sincerity ringing in my voice. She flushed under my gaze, or was it my question. The red blush curling up her neck and spreading to her cheeks was quite cute. The redness of her blush matched her beautiful blue eyes. Wow- I said back pedaling from my train of thought. Cute? Beautiful blue eyes? What the hell was I thinking? This is Tory I am thinking about. Notorious mastermind of all our felonies we committed as we searched for the answers of poor Katherine Heaton's murder, gifted forensic scientist, and in a way; our bossy leader who brings everyone of us in the pack together. So why is it that when I look at her now, I begin to see someone different. I begin to see a pretty girl, with rosy cheeks, blond, slightly disheveled hair and, as I said before, beautiful blue eyes. But when you look closely, her eyes are not blue at all, but a swirl of grey, green and blue with golden flecks laced around the pure black iris. She lets out a groan, regarding her answering my question.

'Do you really want to know?' she asked, hiding her face under her hair, using it to shield her from looking directly into my eyes. She seems embarrassed. It only made me want to know what she is going to say even more.

'Of course.' I say flatly. I really need to work on bringing emotion in to my voice. She lets out a small sigh and says one quiet, simple word.

'PMS.' She says with a small smile. I recoil in shock. PMS? Is that what can ruin a girl's day entirely? Oh god! Just thinking about that sort of thing makes my blood curdle. Tory laughs at my reaction. I must be conveying something across my face which shows my obvious discomfort. Then she laughs openly, throwing her head back as her body begins to shake. Her laughter is infectious and I can't help but slowly join in.


	2. Chapter 2

After my conversation with Tory about her unfortunate PMS situation, things went surprisingly uphill. I found out that her favourite ice crème flavour is orange choc-chip, her favourite animal is – and always has been – a wolf, and that she misses her mother, more than she ever lets on.

'So why are you always so silent?' she asked as we made our way back to the houses. That was a good question, one that I didn't really have an answer to.

'Is it lame for me to say that I don't really know?' I asked with a small, sad laugh. Tory smiled slightly and shook her head.

'Not really, but you don't seem to be your normal self today. What's changed?' another good question. I contemplated a series of answers, pausing to figure out which one to use. Should I say, _i have a crush on you Tory_, no – too embarrassing and incredibly dorky. How about, _I act differently around you because I feel like the real me, open and free. _She would laugh in my face if I said that. I settled for;

'I don't know, I guess I'm just in a talkative mood.' I tried to shrug nonchalantly, but it came out like a sort of spasmodic jerk of my shoulder.

Tory cast a sideways glance at my movement, but decided to ignore it. We just exited the larger part of the trees, making our way up the rocks by the shore. The beach looked incredibly beautiful today; the sun reflected the beach on the water. It was like we were watching a movie of our island. It was clear as day.

We walked in silence for a few more minutes. Each second that passed made me more embarrassed and Tory more frustrated. I could see that from her agitated eyes and her stiff movements.

'Okay!' she finally exploded. 'Why are you always so cryptic?' she asked. I turned to face her. Tory's eyes were ice cold and firm, it looked like she would force a long answer out of me if I didn't give one myself.

'I'm not.' I deadpanned. If it was possible, her ice cold glare turned into a blizzard worthy stare.

'Oh come on! Today in the bunker I was finally getting more than one syllable answers from you. Now when we leave we are back to this. It makes me wish that I could read your mind. Which I can but only when I flar–'

Tory's eyes turned that familiar devilish yellow gold colour, and I knew, just from one look, that she was about to delve into my mind and pick each memory to pieces until she was satisfied I wasn't a lost hope. If I didn't flare then she couldn't read them. I just have to get away.

I started to run away from her, as fast as I could, my legs moving faster than I ever knew them to. I just couldn't allow her to read my thoughts, especially since they were mostly about her and how beautiful she looked today. And the other thoughts about Jason, who is now I guess my competition. It was obvious from the looks he gives her in the hallways at school that she would be his next triumph. She could do so much better than slimy, sleazy Jason. But I don't think she could see that, she was too preoccupied glancing at his athletic good looks. I really hate him.

**SNAP. **

Damn it! She was one step closer to picking at my mind. I stopped running and turned to face the way I came. Subconsciously I had made my way along the beach, to the docks. I saw my boat parked in the closest space to the open sea. That would be my escape. If I could only reach there without Tory being within a ten foot radius of me.

I realised that I hadn't actually checked to see if Tory was even following me or not. I had just reached the entrance to the dock; the metal railing below my foot creaked as I slowly turned around.

There she was, standing proudly a few feet away from my exact position. She had a smug grin plastered across her face; it was tormenting and awfully condescending. Just think normal thoughts, about my boat and school. She can't pick up on anything embarrassing then.

**Reading my mind Tory? **I asked telepathically, I'm sure she could hear it crystal clear.

**Of course I am. **She replied instantly. I saw a smirk break out from the corners of her lips, her perfectly moulded pink lips. SHIT! I hope she didn't hear that.

**What do you want?** I asked mentally, I hoped that my telepathic voice portrayed my annoyance the way my regular voice would if we were speaking naturally.

**To know why you are so cryptic all the time. It's not so hard to speak in long sentences and add feeling to your voice is it? **

I was getting ready to come back with some witty comment when both out concentrations were broken from behind me.

'Hey guys!' was the voice of Hi. He seemed overly enthusiastic, or was that just me?

**SNUP. **

Thank God! Now my thought were safe. I could hug Hi for his impeccable timing. I turned on Tory with a cocky grin. She was sourly looking at Hi, clearly very pissed that her concentration was broken. Hi finally caught on to the strange situation her stumbled upon,

'Whoa! Did I just interrupt something?' Hi asked looking from me to Tory with a confused expression.

'No.'

'Not at all.' We both said in unison.

'Good! Now where's Shelton? I really need have a break from that Synagogue service. Do you guys want to go to the Bunker?'

I locked eyes with Tory; we glared at each other still. Then without warning we both burst into laughter. From where I was standing, bending over, clutching my sides, I saw Hi give us both a very concerned stare.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N sorry I haven't uploaded in a while. It's been really busy with school, homework and I have just come back from holiday. So here it is, hope you like it. Review and tell me what you think and some idea's for the next chapter :)**

I was just minding my own business at home when my father came barging through the door, unannounced, with the phone. I jolted in my desk chair. My father gave me a concerned look at mouthed the word _Shelton._ Huh, I had not even heard it ring. That's probably because I was staring into space, my mind occupied with the mental image of Tory sprawled on the beach, laughing and smiling, _again_. I have got to stop daydreaming about her!

'Thanks dad.' I choke out as he closes the bedroom door with a loud thud. I press the phone to my ear,

'Hey Shelton, what's up man?' I ask casually, thankful that my voice has righted itself. I have known Shelton for years and if my voice is off, he would know something's wrong.

'What is going on with you and Tory?' he asked straight away in a clear voice, not stopping for small chit chat. I recoiled in alarm. How could he know that I like Tory? I haven't told anyone, and I'm certainly not obvious about it. Am I?

'What do you mean?' I asked clearing my throat. Good, that sounded convincing and my voice didn't break so that's a bonus.

'Don't "what do you mean" me,' Shelton said in exasperation. 'Do you like her?' and I thought I was the blunt one in the group! I paused on the phone, weighing my options. If I told Shelton he might be supportive and helpful, giving me another man's mind to deal with it. Not that Shelton is any more experienced than I am. Coming from this small island and everyone on the main land assuming we are weird does nothing for your love life. Not that I would probably have one anyway. Or I could make up some elaborate excuse that doesn't sound convincing but would bore anyone from prying further. But then again, in all the books and movies, when you lie you almost always get caught in the most embarrassing of ways that makes you regret not telling the truth in the first place. No thank you. I took a deep breath and decided to come clean.

'Shelton, before I tell you anything you have to promise you won't laugh, okay?' I asked in a strained voice.

'What do you mean Ben?' Shelton insisted on asking.

'Just promise!' I said in vexation.

'Okay! I promise' he said. I could hear from the tone of his voice that he was baffled as to what I was getting at. Shelton is a genius, surly by now it must have clicked. I wish it would, and then I wouldn't need to explain it to him myself. But I could tell that it wasn't going to happen.

'I like Tory.' I said in an almost whisper, my voice suddenly husky.

There was a pause on the other end of the line, and I could hear a million thoughts flood through my brain. How would he take it? Would he laugh even though I asked him not to? Would Shelton tell Hi straight after our phone call? Would Hi then call Tory? Does Tory feel the same way about me? Will she laugh? Will I want to die? Does Shelton already know? I doubt that last thought actually, Shelton seems like a novice on the whole love area too.

'You like Tory.' Shelton repeated slowly, taking it in. I sucked in a breath, waiting for his verdict.

'You like Tory!' he yelled this time, excitement coursing through the sentence. 'You like Tory! You like Tory! You like Tory!' he said in a singsong voice and then broke into a fit of laughter. I wanted to go over to his house and strangle him. It was beginning to be my least favorite sentence ever.

'Shut up!' I yelled back. I heard Shelton trying to recover from his giggling fit. Coughed a few times then cleared his throat loudly. 'You said you wouldn't laugh!'

'You're right, I'm sorry but I just can't believe it. You like Tory.' He said, this time for my own benefit.

'I know I like Tory. Now Shelton, what am I going to do?' I asked slowly and carefully. Hopefully he wouldn't start laughing again. I wouldn't be able to take another round of mortification.

'Tell her?' he asked dumbly but genuinely.

'And how would I do that Shelton? 'Hi Tory, I like you as in _like _like you. Do you like me in that way too?' I asked, putting on a melodramatic voice even though this was eating away at my insides.

'I see your point.' Shelton agreed, 'But there's got to be something that you can do.' He spoke with confidence, confidence was what I needed right now. It's got to be better than this gut wrenching, butterfly feeling when my hands go all tingly and numb.

'Ooooohhhhhh I know!' Shelton said suddenly with overwhelming enthusiasm. 'You can climb up to her window at night, under the full moon, and sing her a song about your undying love accompanied but a small portably boom box!' this time I wanted to punch him.

'Shelton!' I said in humiliation. 'Could you even see me scaling a building under the full moon? Why are you not taking this seriously?' I sighed loudly, getting up from the desk chair and slumping down hard on my bed. All this talking, or confession, has really tired me out. I stared up at my plain white ceiling in frustration, wracking my brains for something that I could do to tell Tory the way I feel. I certainly won't be using any of Shelton's suggestions.

'You're right again, I'm sorry. It's just; you're not acting like yourself today. No cryptic Ben.' He explained with a sigh.

'That's what Tory said.' I muttered under my breath. Why is she always right?

'Oh, so you've been talking to Tory lately have you?' he asked. I could almost she Shelton smirking on that other end of the line.

'Oh be quite Shelton, it's not like we don't see her often. An I –'

There was a sharp nock on the door, stopping me mid rant.

'Come in!' I called, leaning away from the phone. The door opened slowly.

'Uh Shelton, I need to call you back!' I said, hanging up, as I saw the figure in the door way. There she was, looking as beautiful as ever, with her hands on her hips and a determined stare penetrating my eyes. Tory.

'So Benjamin.' She said with slight venom. 'I think it's time we had that little talk of ours.'


End file.
